Cleaning up our files for the new year, we have another report about a performance directly from Mandy Byrnes here:

The gig went well on Dec. 16 down in the Ripley Court Hotel on Talbot Street. The owner Austin Kelly runs a night for the elderly every christmas, with dinner and drinks and books the entertainment, and this year he asked Patsy to do it. There were so many singers among the crowd that he didn't have to do much! It really was a great night, unbelieveable talent, and it was great to see the more mature of us, enjoying themselves - they love the fun!

Patsy Watchorn and Mandy Byrnes are sending their best wishes for Christmas and the New Year:

We sincerely thank you for your friendship, loyalty and continued support. It is very rewarding to have such friends and fans; in return, Patsy will never stop in pouring all of his heart into his music - for your enjoyment. Thank you for a great year, let's move forward to 2004!

A note from your webadmin: While you're reading this, Patsy & Mandy are already relaxing for a couple of days; myself, I want to add that your frequent visits here are making www.patsywatchorn.com one of the best-ranked websites in Irish music ever.

What a nice issue of the Irish Music Magazine IMM this December one is, my my my! There's our beautiful ad, now in full page, there are two pictures and there is a two-page-article by John Brody, titled The Legend And The Ballad. While requesting that you purchase the magazine to read the full article, we still want to feed you with a quote from it:

The more we talk, the more I realize that Patsy has been around forever, or even a bit longer. "Before even the Clancy Brothers were, I am." That's the biblical way you'd say it.

The IMM (Irish Music Magazine) calendar for 2004, which is enclosed in their December '03 issue, features Patsy on October 2004 with a beautiful set of pictures. It is reprinted here in minimized form, but if you wish to add the original to your collection, you gotta purchase IMM! There is even more to say about the current issue of IMM but we save that for our next update!

Patsy and his current CD Hearts On Fire are featured in MQ, Music Quarterly, the magazine of IMRO (Irish Music Rights Organisation) in issue 4/2.
He got premier feature in the Caught In The Act section, displaying a nice shot and detailing an insight into Hearts On Fire.
This, by the way, is a good time to check out the CD which is in stores nationwide and can be seen at Celtic Note, HMV and many others.
It is available online as well and you qualify for our Christmas bonus - a Patsy keyring, see December 8 news - if you order straight away!Order Hearts On Fire by clicking here!

From today until the end of the year, we give you a free Patsy keyring to every Hearts On Fire your order! Shop for Christmas, get a handful of CD's and to each album a keyring.
The keyring is featured here and it already has generated lots of interest within the fandom so be sure to get your orders in now!
Use the link below to order and to find out all above Patsy's new CD including sound clips of every song!All about Hearts On Fire

It's that time of the year again - everbody is writing Christmas cards. Why not sending out some unique ones this year and mailing out a couple of electronical Patsy-styled Xmas cards as pictured here?
And don't forget we also have a handful more designs there to send out to your friends and relatives.
Follow link below and make somebody happy!Send Patsy Greeting Card

Cleaning up our November log files, we share with you the Patsy Watchorn Top 5 download chart for the previous month: The most downloaded song was Hearts On Fire, followed by Dublin Town In 1962, Dublin In My Tears, Grace and Song For Ireland.
Have you checked out all our song clips yet, have you done your Christmas CD shopping?Listen to music samples now!

Cleaning up our links we realize that we have one link about Patsy's trip to the US in our backlog: In July 2003, the Irish Scoop magazine brought a review about Patsy's three L.A. gigs in March. Here's a quote from the article (to read the full review from the link below, you need to have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed):

The minstrel from Crumlin in Dublin, Mr. Patsy Watchorn [...] pints were flowing in each venue as his vocal pipes were pitching tunes of days gone bye. The words of the songs were melodic lessons in Ireland's history. Many longtime and new fans came out all three nights spanning from Molly Bloom's in San Clemente up to the packed capacity at Newport Beach's Shamrock and up the hill were stepping stones to the band's two night St. Patrick's holiday engagement in Las Vegas at the New Orleans.

Patsy Watchorn's visit to the Thomas Davis GAA on Nov. 7 was a special one, as the following report from Mandy Byrnes clearly details:

We had a great gig on Fri night in Tomas Davis; the club ran the night as a tribute to the late Noel Ryan and his family, 1000 tickets sold, and the gig was attended by 450 people, about 25 prizes for the raffle. Tony Collins opened the show and was brilliant, and he was followed by Dance Force,featuring the O'Briens sisters, (Patsy's soninlaw's sisters) and they took sparks out of the dance floor which was made especially for the night.
Than Patsy agus a chairde took to the stage and were very well received, the place was jumping, 2 and a half hours later they were still jumping after 3 encores the boys were able to finish, what can only be described as a major success, and all credit has to go to the wonderful committee, here are some of the people and apologies to anyone we left out: Thanks to Sam Payne, Con Fleming, Con Deasy host and compere for the night, if he's not careful he could get the Rose Of Tralee job.
A beautiful bouquet of flowers was presented to Stella, Noel's wife, who made a very moving speech about Noel & their love for each other and all their friends and family. It was obvious from the response that they were indeed very well thought off and respected.
It was an Honour for Patsy to be asked to perform on the night.
Noel May You Rest In Peace.

If you spend your Christmas/New Year in Dublin and plan to see Mr. Watchorn live, please note that Patsy will relax a bit himself and will not appear in concert from December 22 to December 27. But Brian Furlong, John Deegan and Martin Corcoran, aka The Patsy Watchorn Band, will gladly welcome you at the Lower Deck to celebrate Christmas the Irish style.

Patsy will appear live at the Thomas Davis GAA on November 7, his yearly visit to support gaelic sports like he used to for decades.
If you're near Tallaght, you're cordially invited to join us for the craic at Kiltipper Road, Tallaght, Dublin 24 (Phone: 00 353 1 4525005).Thomas Davis GAA homepage

Shay Eustace, who has a very nice album out on his own with his band Celtic Mist, held an interview with Patsy yesterday, chatting about the new album and the upcoming gig on Tallaght on Nov. 7 at the Thomas Davis GAA.

On November 13, the Soirée gala du Bicentenaire de la CCI du Pays de Saint-Malo will take place, which is - did you guess! - the celebration of the 2nd Century of the St. Malo Chamber of Commerce.
Youenn Le Boulc'h, the President of the Chamber of Commerce is keen on Ireland, Guinness and golf, so there'll be an Irish taverne installed specially where Patsy will appear as Ireland's musical ambassador; hope we don't lose him to politics (remember Arnie!). Frank Magee (Chief Executive of Dublin Tourism) will attend the evening too.

The great Ronan Collins, undisputed king of the Irish afternoon on air, just played Hearts On Fire a couple of minutes ago, congratulating Patsy on his birthday (yep, today!) and saying a couple of very nice words about our man. And Patsy is just busy answering tons of calls from listeners trying to congratulate personally. The man is trying to thank you all and everybody, but if you don't get through, please accept Patsy's heartiest Thank You through this page here!

Exactly a week ago, Patsy attended the IMM Awards at the Sugarclub in Leeson Street. He wants to congratulate IMM on the wonderful night, and what a great opportunity it was for Patsy to meet up with old friends, such as Paddy Reilly, Barney McKenna of the Dubliners, Matt Molloy of the Chieftains and his wonderful wife Geraldine; Patsy and Mandy had a very enjoyable time!

Patsy was live on air at BBC Oxford on Sunday, Oct. 5, and on Oct. 8, he was interviewed by LMFM radio which is based Drogheda with a very wide listening audience and both were very positive. Mandy Byrnes tells us about the BBC program:

The interview went well on Sunday, Henry played a couple of tracks and had a really great chat with Patsy, there is a competition to win his cd, and he told Patsy that he was the most requested artist on his show.

With our strikingly beautiful ad in the latest issue of the Irish Music Magazine, we pick up a whole lot of fresh new visitors. The following is a quick guide around the site and what you came here foremost: More information about Patsy's new CD Hearts On Fire.

Hearts On Fire information
This page contains anything you need to know: Cover image, song listings, audio excerpts of every track, liner notes and ordering links.

Hearts On Fire ordering
If you have seen and heard enough already, you can use our direct link to order Hearts On Fire above.

Patsy Live
Click above if you're in Ireland these days to check where you can see the man himself performing live!

Your Comments Are Appreciated
Want to tell us how much you like the new album? You're an old buddy and want to say Hi to Mr. Watchorn once in a while? Click above to enter our guestbook.

After you're through with all that, we recommend you browse through the news old and current to find out what Patsy is doing and also our photo gallery with lots of pics through the years.

Henry Wymbs of BBC Ocford will showcase Patsy and his new album this Sunday, October 5 at BBC Radio Oxford. Tune in at 3:00 P.M. to hear Patsy interviewed by Henry and a few tracks from Hearts On Fire!

As you know, we have sound clips of every song on the new album online at Downloads. We did a bit of server statistics checking today and want to name to most popular downloads - here are the Top Five: Hearts On Fire, Dublin In My Tears, Song For Ireland, Grace, Dublin Town In 1962.Get the full versions of all songs here!

Out of the websites which mention Patsy, we pick MyInishowen today which features Henry Wymbs Irish Top 30 Of All Time. The site is very enjoyable to visit, so say hello there, and he has to say about Patsy:

Patsy Watchorn is the earthy voice (...), and I could stand in snow all day listening to him

The new CD is available from here for €17.95 (approx. US$ 19.51) plus postage. We offer you a series of payment options; please check our shop for details. Also, the new album is getting first airplay; we receive excited calls from fans "We heard Patsy's new album on the radio!". Well, you're going to hear some more!Patsy Watchorn eStore

With great pleasure we announce that Hearts On Fire is available officially. You can order online at our shop right away! Dealers and distributors find a link to request wholesale information Go and check out the mp3 song samples we have for you and get mesmerized by the greatest Irish ballad voice there is! We promise you that you've never listened to a more beautiful version than this Dublin 62 here; you will wonder why it took so long that Patsy recorded Dublin In My Tears as the song is completely redefined by his rendition; you will ask if Grace was written for Patsy because it's sounds so perfect that you'd believe it was. Well, 'nuff said, everybody should start to pick his/her own favorites now!And give us your feedback about the new album in our guestbook!Hearts On Fire album, songs and retail/wholesale ordering

Ladies and gentleman, it's official!
Patsy Watchorn is about to release his newest album titled "Hearts On Fire" within the next days! It will be the first release on his own label "Rare Auld Times Records". The CD will feature 14 brand-new songs headlined by the most beautiful title track Hearts On Fire, tremendously up-to-date in its statement about this crazy world. Then there are a couple of old favorites Patsy finally had to put his brand on, like Dublin Town In 1962; and believe us, Patsy delivers the definitive versions of these songs here. All ye proud Irish folks will be glad to find gems like Grace or Ann Devlin, plus, there's a lot more! Check out our album page which contains the song listing as well as the liner notes! If you're looking for the ballad album of the year, if you're thursting for new stuff from the grandmaster of the Irish ballad, well, here's exactly what the doctor prescribed!

Watch us preparing the website for a major update! Here are some teasers for you to make you wonder what's going on here:

All around the world our young men, having songs of freedom sung them
And every dog of war will have his day
And the pride of all the nations, standing at their stations
Smiling as they wave their lives away

While the heart of Dublin's dying, but nobody really cares,
And the fools as they pass by, laugh to see an old man cry

There's a deep stream running by
They found Mary there at midnight

Now I know it's hard for you my love to ever understand
The love I bear for these brave men, my love for this dear land

On Grafton Street in November, we tripped lightly along the ledge

Drinking all the day in old pubs where fiddlers love to play

His kids said dad that's really quite a tale,
We know Patsy has the spirit of the Gael

We added another song to our songbook: Transportation as a penal measure, to an oversea dominion of the UK, usually for crimes as trivial as poaching or the theft of a bread, is the very serious background to the well-known pub ballad Black Velvet Band. You find more details and insights - and the lyrics, of course - within our songbook.Black Velvet Band

Eamonn O’Rourke, wo was only in his 50's, was for about two years a member of Patsy Watchorn's first solo band in the mid-90's, but had to give up performing due to illness. He spent some time in Canada after that, but returned home to Ireland evetually. His also known for his work with Jolly Beggarmen and Moonshine. Patsy Watchorn attended the funeral and is expressing his condolences.

or "Skoolboy", as Tracy W. would say!
Patsy was asked to take care of the entertainment of the 60th anniversary celebration of Dublin Schoolboy Football, which took place yesterday at the Old Jameson Distillery. And you can believe us if we tell you that Patsy and Brian Furlong did entertain the crowd wonderfully. The host this evening was an old pal of Patsy, one of Ireland's greatest football players ever; Johnny Giles. Next to the host, there was a fine selection of Irish and international sports celebrities from football, rugby and golf.
Also, some Special Olympics comitee members were present and Patsy got a request to sing Scorn Not His Simplicity, which he naturally did to the delight of everybody. Among others, there was Rare Auld Times, The Ferryman and Dirty Old Town, and some surely won't forget Molly Malone, which had Patsy on stage with four top golfers whom he teached the chorus just before the song!

As all RTÉ viewers know, Patsy could not be seen during his part of the afternoon as some players credits and other features were shown, but he could be heard very nicely in full. On other channels, there were bits and pieces to be heard. Anyway, Patsy is glad the boys in green made the 2:1!

A few introductory words for those not familiar with Irish sports: On Saturday, June 7, Ireland plays a European Championship qualifier against Albania at Lansdown Road. It is a match the boys in green have to win or the dream of the Championship is over.
There is entertainment before and Patsy was invited to open the ceremonies at 14:30 P.M.; he'll be singing The Rare Auld Times and The Ferryman. It is a great honor to be invited to warm up the crowd of 40.000 and, might we say, also Patsy's good friend Brian Kerr and his boys. Following and supporting Irish soccer since decades and counting many many of Ireland's past and present sports celebrities to his friends, there is no better man than Patsy Watchorn.
Unfortunately, the stadium is completely sold out, but there is worldwide live broadcast from Alaska to Australia from 14:30 on, so it - depending on TV stations schedules and programs - chances are you'll see Patsy on TV wherever you are on this world.
Pictured below you see Patsy and Brian Kerr at Carrolls Irish Gifts.
Patsy Watchorn is wishing Brian Kerr and the team all the best!

On St. Patrick’s Day, all Vegas was wearin’ the green; green shirts, green hats, green everything - not being a small city, the Irish completeley overtook.
In the midst of it was Patsy Watchorn performing two nights, advertised as "Gold Recording Artist Straight From The Emerald Isle" on those giant Vegas billboards.
Usually, Vegas crowds tend to come and go a lot, always having one eye at gambling. With Patsy playing Brendan’s Irish Bar, the place was packed (with even the stars from Lord Of The Dance attending - see our April 30, 2003 news) to its limits with folks cheering and smiling and singing along - simply, enjoying themselves immensly!
Have a look at our gallery for more pics of Patsy in Vegas!Our March 2003 Photo Gallery

Straight from the desk of Mandy Byrnes comes a report about a very exciting Saturday night at the Lower Deck on May 24:

We had a brilliant night on Saturday in the Lower Deck, a friend of Patsy's that he hasn't seen in twenty years was there with 12 americans, the last time he met him was in Washington DC, Danny O Flaherty is his name, there was quite a reunion with himself and Patsy; he also got up and sang three songs, one (as gaelige) beautiful singer, he also owns a big Irish Bar in New Orleans. Pete St John arrived in and got a tremendous welcome from the audience when he got on stage with Patsy and the lads, he did his little stories and Monologues and Patsy sang all his songs, Pete played a great tribute to Patsy in saying "His voice inspired him to write songs especially Dublin in the Rare Auld Times which he wrote for him" and also "Patsy is the greatest ballad singer in Ireland today".
They finished Pete's set with Dublin In the Rare Auld times joined on stage by Danny, and no joke they received at least 5 standing ovations.
Pete hadn't been well for a while but it was great to see him up and about and enjoying himself so much, you could tell he was enjoying the gig and performing with Patsy & Danny and the lads again. To sum it up, a great night was had by all!

Courtesy of Pete St. John, whose website you can visit at http://www.petestjohn.com, we add another photograph to our gallery today: Patsy appearing at Celtic Park in Glasgow. He still fondly remembers that - how could you forget playing before tens of thousands enthusiastic people at one of the most prestigious places in the celtic world?

THE CRAIC AND PORTER TOO, Patsy's best selling CD from 1998, was rereleased by Dolphin. The tremendous success of last year's THE VERY BEST OF PATSY WATCHORN has forced them to change the cover and put Patsy's photograph on. Plus, they have changed the title to THE CRAIC WAS NINETY... but the reference number (DOCDK 113) stays the same. The songs are the same too, 20 grand pub music ballads not to be missed.

So here we are finally with our report about Patsy's return to the States. Today, we are concentrating on the three gigs that took place March 13 - 15 in the Greater Los Angeles area (we will tell you about Vegas separately): at the Molly Blooms (San Clemente), The Shamrock (Newport Beach) and The Harp Inn (Costa Mesa). There was a very friendly welcome at all three venues and every night was unique. All three are the Irish headquarters of their respective communities, so if you want to feel really homesick (or just feel Irish for an evening) and you're in California, consider them strongly. For more about Ireland and Californa, there is an excellent website out there where you can check out all things Irish in California: CaliforniaPaddy
Also working with CaliforniaPaddy is Lorraine Chambers, who came to see all three L.A. Gigs (well, she had to, considering that she's from Crumlin just like Patsy)!
We're greeting everybody we met there and, not to be unfair to anyone, we do not mention any names in particular, but instead with arms open wide sending a big hug to all ye nice people. Looking back, we must say that someone even was so thoughtful to arrange typical Irish weather as the rain was pouring and no one was in danger of a sunburn.
The folks responsible for bringing us over also made our visit the most enjoyable trip ever: Gerry Donoghue and his lovely lady Ank. "Ger" was the heart and the soul of everything and took care of everybody and everything from A to Z, from noon to night. All of these big companies out there could take a lesson what „24/7“ really means! He's pictured right here, proudly enjoying the art of his pal Patsy Watchorn.
Switching to the stage now, Patsy was backed up by friends and talented musicians alikF: Brian The Furrier Furlong, John Deegan and Martin Corcoran.
Patsy usually opened the evenings with The Ferryman, one of his biggest hits, penned by songwriting legend Pete St. John personally for Patsy. From there he took the show from highlight to highlight, mixing songs, old ones, new ones, picking some of his own numerous hits, fun songs like Finegan’s Wake, dance tunes and of course not forgetting the patriotic side by performing ballads like Sean South or The Ballad Of Billy Reid. Patsy’s fellow musicians played some beautiful instrumentals or added songs of their own choice. Many songs were requested by the audience so, as usually the nights were too short and Patsy could not fulfill all wishes.
For your entertainment, we have a series of photographs in our gallery!Our March 2003 Photo Gallery

As you know, Patsy played the Helix last night and he was quite impressed, considering the quote we got from him:

Jaysus, it was unbelievable! It's a huge place and it is beautiful. One of those venues where you can not see all of your audience against the spotlights because of the sheer size of the place, with several balconies and sidewings and all. I was just there with Brian [The Furrier Furlong], a banjo and a guitar was all we had, and when we sang The Ferryman or The Rare Auld Times, everybody in the arena joined and sang along. We had a fantastic reception and I had to shake so many hands that I'm not sure if I can play the banjo tonight! And I'm happy that I could add my support for this cause [the Special Olympics]

The Special Olympics, taking place in Ireland shortly, are supported by many famous entertainers and groups throughout the country. That includes Patsy Watchorn as well, who will first take part in the action tomorrow, May 7, at the Helix (Collins Avenue, Glasnevin, Dublin 9), where a big All Star concert in aid of the games takes place.

We once again point you to Nick Guida's fine website The Balladeers where Patsy Watchorn was voted Best Irish Balladeer with more than double the hits of anyone else in the list. Please use the link below to hop to Nick's website (which is worth a visit!) and let us quote Nick in his comment about the poll:

Thanks to everyone for participating in the “Best Irish Balladeer” poll. I was very happy to see Patsy Watchorn recognized. Patsy has one of the most distinctive voices on the scene and is one of a handful of singers keeping the ballad scene alive. I started the poll in the first place because I read a comment made by Brian Warfield, of the Wolfe Tones, that Tommy Byrne (2nd place to Patsy) was the best ballad singer since Luke Kelly. Anytime I’ve read a statement like that (in the last ten or so years) it's always since Luke Kelly. Speaking of which, I received an email from Patsy himself during the poll…he voted for Luke Kelly. I think that sums it all up nicely. Congratulations Patsy.

With the site design done, we go back to inform you about all things Patsyana, and, of course, about the US tour. The Sunday World had a nice column about Patsy on March 30, 2003, which we want to quote herF:

Patsy Watchorn, formerly known of the Dublin City Ramblers, is now packing in the crowds with his new four-piece-band. He has lost none of the magic that made the Ramblers one of the biggest bands around. His Rare Auld Times album has just gone gold for sales and is racing off the shelves. To top his success, Patsy has just returned from a very successful tour of the States, with performances in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. His Vegas shows were attended by stars from Lord Of The Dance who got up on stage to dance with Patsy and his gang.

We of course have the picture to prove this, so please find below the Las Vegas All Stars: Patsy and his band, the stars from Lord Of The Dance and a musician from Patsy's warm-up act Killian's Angels!

Welcome to our all-new design! It was about time to modify our online appearance and make it easier to navigate for you.
As you can see, we not only have changed the layout, we also have a much better news archive for you and an exiting new feature in the News section: The News Index. There you can browse the headlines of all our news back to when we started here, in the summer of 2000! The gig list has been streamlined for quicker determination when and where the next appearance is. Then we have added a press & media section with press releases and ready-to-use pictures. Info/Photos contains all the stories about Patsy plus a brandnew photo gallery. Oh, and more! Just browse around and enjoy!

There could be some thought that your webadmin is lazy. Please rest assured that this is not the case. We are preparing lots of new stuff for you, much about Patsy's return to the USA which was a smashing success. In the meanwhile, we are giving you two pix: THE PATSY happily at work and two of the nicest people alive, Ger Donoghue and Ank de Roos, who made it all possible. Click the picture for a full-size image!

Patsy Watchorn is returning to the USA! He has been away for so long (actually, "too" long, his countless US fans will say) and he decided that he could not turn down the invitation to play Los Angeles and Las Vegas from March 13 to March 17! He has never played Vegas before and it is a wonderful opportunity to showcase himself and his own band. To some extent, good informed sources tell us, the decision was also influenced by the fact that his latest CD is selling extremly well in California and Nevada and all the pubs are playing the CD all day long, so it was only a question of time until "the original" would be flown in. So, bringing a freshly gold certified disc with him, he promises his friend and fans won't be disappointed and it will THE BEST Paddy's weekend ever. Please check our Live page for the details which venues Patsy will be playing.

Patsy wishes his friend Brian Kerr (a real Dub, for everyone from abroad who may not know this!) all the best and lots of success with his new career as the manager of the soccer team of the Republic Of Ireland!

Yes sir! Yup! Hip-hip hooray! Good way to start the year! Patsy has won the The Balladeers Poll (asking for Ireland's best ballad singer 2003)! Patsy received 136 votes which is more than double the hits of anyone else. Well, your webadmin knew it anyway, brwuahahahaaa, but (now get serious Pete!) Patsy Watchorn wants to thank everyone who voted for him very very dearly! He is sending best wishes to all the folks careing enough to vote! Having said that, Patsy recommends you to visit The Balladeers at http://www.theballadeers.com/ where owner Nick Guida has set up a special Patsy page, with - for all you hardcore fans out there! - a few exclusive, never before published photos!

Nick from the very nice The Balladeers site has a poll up, asking for your favourite Irish balladeer - now go there immediately and vote for Patsy! http://www.theballadeers.com/Welcome1.htm
Follow the link and you'll see the list of names immediately. Click Patsy's name and mail the vote - add a personal note if you wish. But do it now!